Middle Kingdom , 2040-1782 BC
Light green faience with black spots
Height 3.2 cm ( 1 1⁄4 in )
Width 5.6 cm ( 2 1⁄4 in )
Former private collection Mr. Joseph Pierre, Cluis, France, acquired prior to 1936; private collection STANDING DOG France, acquied at the sale of the above’s property
F.D. Friedman: Gifts of the Nile, Ancient Egyptian Faience, Thames & Hudson, London 1998
W.C. Hayes: Sceptre of Egypt I, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1959
J. Bourriau & S. Quirke: Pharaohs and Mortals: Egyptian art in the Middle Kingdom, University Press Cambridge 1988
The dog is standing on a rectangular base bending backwards, ready to jump forward, the tail curled around his back and the ears erect in attention. The dog’s body is covered with large black spots.
Egyptians loved their dogs as much as we do and they are often represented in two- or threedimensional Egyptian art. Three-dimensional Middle Kingdom examples in faience depict individual dogs and sometimes owners set on a base. Though it may have had a symbolic meaning (for example: a watchdog in the afterlife) the dog was most likely a treasured reminder of a person’s pet during their life, and thus included in the tomb as a keepsake.